Rail end grinder



R. c. BRITTQN ETAL Jan. 13, 1959 RAIL END GRINDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 6, 1955 mm N. .WFF mum f M 3 o 5N 0E 02 I o B Y N 77/5/10 ATTOENEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 13, 1959 R. c. BRITTON ET AL RAIL END GRINDER Filed Jan. 6, 1955 United tate This invention relates to a grinding apparatus for squaring the ends of railroad rails, and more particularly, to an apparatus for operation with a conventional rail drill press. which will square the end of a rail by grinding while it is being drilled.

More specifically, this invention relates to an apparatus of the type disclosed in the copending application for Letters Patent by Otto A. Clarke and Ralph W. Dickson, Serial No. 475,928, filed December 17, 1954, to which reference is made for a detailed description and understanding thereof. For the purposes of this invention, it will be suflicient to indicate that the apparatus covered by the said copending application comprises a rail drillpress and a grinder for squaring the end of a railroad rail together with a stop for positioning the rail for operation thereon by both the drill press and the grinder. The stop is positioned in the path of endways movement of the rail over a. conveyor to the drill for engagement with an end thereof to stop it in a predetermined position with respect to both the drill press and the grinder. The grinder comprises a rotating grinding wheel mounted on a carriage which is reciprocated over a path perpendicular to the end of the rail. The grinding wheel is mounted with its axis. extending transversely of the path of reciprocating movement of the carriage so that an axial. end face thereof'has grinding engagement with the end. of the rail as it is moved over such end by the reciprocating movement of the carriage. At the end of each cycle of reciprocating movement, the grinding wheel is advanced a small distance toward the rail so that a grinding cut is made at each cycle of reciprocating movement. The stop which positions the rail for both drilling and grind ing has a movable or retractable support allowing its movement by an operator to a retracted position out of the path of movement of the grinding wheel, and is moved to this position by the operator after it has served its function for positioning the rail and grinding.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide in an apparatus of the type disclosed in the said copending application an improved arrangement of stop which will eliminate the necessity of its being manually moved to a retracted position before operation of the grinding apparatus. To this end, the reciprocating carriage on which the grinding wheel is mounted is provided with a stop for movement therewith. The stop is spaced from the grinding wheel in the direciton of its path of reciprocating movement so that it will be operative to position a rail when the carriage and grinding wheel are in a retracted position. By mounting the stop on the carriage support for the grinding wheel, subsequent reciprocation of the carriage to move the grinding wheel over the end of the rail is eifective to move the stop out of engagement with the end of the rail and to a position where it will not interfere with the grinding of the rail by the grinding wheel.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

2,867,952 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 meral 1 designates the rolls of a conveyor for delivering a rail to a drill press 2 having a conventional arrangement of three drills 3 which are mounted for vertical movement to drill openings in the end of a rail. A stop 4 by the numeral 5 engages the end of a rail and stops its movement over the conveyor rolls in a predetermined position for operation thereon by both the drill press 2 and grinder 5. A clamp 6 is mounted on the drill press bed 7 for clamping the rail against movement out of the drilling and grinding position in which it is stopped by the stop 4.

The grinder 5 has a base 8 which is bolted to the floor and to the drill press bed 7 by extensions 9 projecting laterally from the grinder base 8. The base 3 has a carriage 10 mounted thereon for reciprocating movement over a path which is perpendicular to the rail on the drill" bed 2. For this purpose, the bed 8 has spaced parallel rails 11 and 12 which respectively have supporting and sliding engagement with runners 13 and 14 dependingfrom the carriage 10.

Reciprocation of the carriage 10 is effected by a doubleacting fluid pressure motor 15 bolted to the base 8. The

motor 15 has a piston (not shown) for operating a piston rod 1 6. which has a pivotal connection 17 at its end with a pair of lugs 18 depending from one edge of the carriage It); The motor 15 is preferably a hydraulic motor having conventional controls (not shown) including a reversing valve 19 for alternately connecting its ends to a source of fluid pressure and which are operableto. return thecarriage 10 to the position shown in Figures 2 and 32 when its reciprocation isinterrupted. Thereversing valve 19 has a pair of operating lugs 20 respectively positioned in the path of movement of a pair of spaced dogs 21 mounted on a rail 22 secured to the carriage it). At each end of the path of reciprocating movement of the carriage 10, one of the dogs 21 engages one of the valve lugs 20 to operate the reversing valve 19 and reverse the operation of the motor 15 and the direction of movement of the carriage 10. The dogs 21 have adjustable connections with the rail 22 so that the length of the path of reciprocating movement of the carriage 10 may be adjusted.

A grinding wheel 25 is mounted on the carriage 10 for reciprocation therewith by a second or intermediate carriage or slide 26. The carriage 26 has depending runners 27 which have a guided sliding engagement with spaced parallel rails 28 on the carriage 10. The runners 27 and rails 28 extend transversely of the path of reciprocating movement of the carriage 1t) and mount the carriage 26 for sliding movement toward and away from the end of a rail supported on the drill bed 2. The carriage 26 mounts a drive motor 30 which drives the grinding wheel 25 which has a bearing support in a housing 33 secured to the carriage 26. The position of the carriage 26 relative to the carriage 10 is adjusted by means of a screw shaft 35 having threaded engagement in a nut 36 depending from and secured to the bottom of the carriage 26. A hand wheel 37 is provided for manually operating the shaft 35 to adjust the position of the grinding wheel 25 relative to the end of a rail to be ground thereby.

a portion of the drill and clamp shown It will be noted that the axis of the wheel 25 extends transversely with respect to its path of reciprocating movement so that an end face 39 thereof has grinding engagement with the end of a rail to be ground.

The stop 4 is mounted on the outer end of a shaft 40 which has threaded engagement in a pedestal support projecting upwardly from the carriage and with respect to which its axial position may be adjusted. A nut 42 has threaded engagement with the shaft 40 for locking it against movement from the axial position with respect to the carriage 10 to which it may have been adjusted. The position of the shaft 40 controls the position in which the rail is engaged with and has its movements stopped by the stop 4.

Upon completion of each grinding operation, the carriage 10 is stopped in the position shown in Figure 2 with the grinding wheel at one side of a rail moving onto or off of a drill bed 2 over the conveyor rolls 1. In this position of the carriage 10, the stop 4, which is spaced from the wheel 25 along its path of reciprocating movement and in the direction over which the Wheel will be reciprocated when the apparatus is started, will engage the end of the rail head 43 of a rail moving onto the bed 2 and stop it in a predetermined position relative to the drills 3 and the grinding Wheel 25. After a rail has been clamped on the drill bed 2, conventional controls (not shown) for the drive motor and the fluid pressure motor 15 are operated to rotate the grinding wheel 25 and reciprocate the carriage 10, operation of these controls being initiated conveniently by the conventional drill press control lever (not shown). As reciprocaiton of the carriage 143 is started, the grinding wheel 25 moves toward the rail as viewed in Figure 2 and so that its end surface 39 effects a grinding cut on the end thereof. This movement of the carriage 10 moves the stop 4 downwardly as viewed in Figure 2 and out of engagement with the end of the rail so that it is ineffective to interfere with the grinding action of the wheel 25. The depth of grinding cut is of course regulated by operation of the hand wheel 37 to move the slide 26 and thereby the grinding wheel toward the end of the rail on the drill press bed 2, the wheel 37 being operated thereafter to retract the grinder before starting another operation,

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adap- ,4 tations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for squaring railroad rail ends comprising a carriage mounted for rectilinear reciprocating movement, a conveyor means for delivering a rail endways toward said carriage, a stop in the path of movement of said rail over said conveyor means and for engaging an end thereof to stop it in a predetermined position with the end engaged thereby adjacent said carriage, means mounting said stop on said carriage, means for retaining said rail on said conveyor means against movement out of said predetermined position, a grinding wheel mounted on said carriage in a position spaced from said stop along the path of reciprocating movement of the carriage, and means for reciprocating said carriage to move said stop out of positioning engagement with said rail and for moving said grinding wheel over said adjacent rail end to perform a grinding operation thereon.

2. An apparatus for squaring railroad rail ends while being drilled by a conventional rail drill press comprising a conveyor means for delivering rails endways to said drill press, a stop in the path of movement of a rail over said conveyor means for engaging an end thereof and stopping it in a predetermined position thereon, a clamp for clamping said rail on said conveyor means against movement out of said predetermined position, a carriage mounted for rectilinear reciprocating movement over a path perpendicular to a rail held by said clamp, means mounting said stop on said carriage, a grinding wheel mounted on said carriage and spaced from said stop along said path of carriage reciprocating movement, and means for reciprocating said carriage to move said stop out of positioning engagement with said rail end and to move said grinding wheel over said rail end and to perform a grinding operation thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 492,095 Medart Feb. 21, 1893 502,371 Macdougall Aug. 1, 1893 1,485,101 Wegner Feb. 26, 1924 2,377,126 Brown May 29, 1945 

